This year’s edition of the Hellenic Flame Festival, which was scheduled to begin August 14th in Park Extension, has been cancelled.
Organizers say they can't meet the city's new safety demands.
"The measures were different this year than in years past and we felt as a community that it was too much to do in a short period of time to install all these barricades," said Andy Crilis, Vice President of the Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal. "The barriers are needed for security purposes at every intersection and at the end of the day the cost would be enormous."
The festival can sometimes turn a profit of $30,000 to $40,000 but poor weather can change that. Crilis says the cost of cement blocks and a crane to install and remove them would be several thousand dollars.
